Natural Beauty

Now that I focus so much on only putting goodness into my body I decided it was about time I started only putting good things on my body too! I've decided to try and use products that are natural, 100% cruelty free (no animal testing!) and as kind to the environment as possible. I already use shampoo bars which are totally natural, vegan and zero packaging so all round perfect really.

I bought a new one today called Montalbano. It smells divine. It's packed with lemon oil, lemon peel and even the juice to make your hair super shiny and in the sun it will lighten hair too - perfect for summer. Also contains green olives which are said to improve hair strength! As for conditioner, these days I tend to just use coconut oil twice a week. I just cover the ends of my hair and rub it in, leave it to soak in over night and then wash out with shampoo the next day. It leaves my hair gloriously soft and shiny.

Coconut oil also doubles as my make up remover and sometimes my moisturiser! I also use it in cooking and baking. I'm not sure there is anything you can't use it for?! It's amazing! I also sometimes use Skin Quench by Original Source which comes in some great scents. It's totally vegan but not as natural as other moisturisers (like coconut oil!) and also has quite a lot of packaging.

For my face I use olive oil as a cleanser and moisturiser. If you haven't tried it yet - you should! I was totally dubious about putting oil on my skin at first as I thought it would make it worse rather than better but Rose (BFF) convinced me to finally give it a go and it's actually worked wonders. My face is smoother, clearer and the redness has reduced! I get cold pressed olive oil because the usual process heats the oil and breaks down its natural structure which is shown to remove its benefits. At first I was using a lot of cotton pads as part of this cleansing process so as an effort to reduce my waste I bought some reusuable bamboo pads!

And finally (!) this amazing bundle showed up at my house today! When looking online for natural products this same brand kept appearing so I thought I'd give it a try! I bought just the lavender deodorant first which is aluminium free and it worked so well I decided to invest in another to keep in my gym bag so I'm not without one after a run (no one who spends time around me wants that!), fluoride free toothpaste and some suncream.

That's as far as I've got with my new approach to product selecting and buying and I have to say I'm loving it and the results so far! If I come across anything new or update my products I'll do another post. Hope this has inspired you to try some natural products or maybe to just be mindful of the impacts of the things that we buy!

Starting over & our trip to Paris!

Starting over can be one of the hardest things to do. Ever. When you have your heart so set on something and you've planned and invested so much into it, to reach a dead end can be heartbreaking. But that's what Patrick and I have had to do with regard to my plan for moving to spend more time with him. Unfortunately the university made a mistake and the course they offered me wasn't applicable for international students - literally devastated! So much time and effort had gone into that for it all just to be taken away from us in one email. 

I can't say I coped with it all very well at first and it's been a tough couple of weeks to let go of all our previous plans. Having said this we have tried to make the most of our situation and so in September I will be taking an extended 3month holiday  to the States! After a 3week break there for Will & Claire's wedding of course. While it isn't what we originally had in mind I'm actually quite excited about this new opportunity for us and for me to travel more than I thought I would. As I've heard many times over the last few weeks, offered as words of comfort from family and friends, everything happens for a reason. Sometimes it's hard to see that reason in the face of disappointment but I think it's important to have faith, and that where there is a will there is a way and we have two wills.

But onto happier topics! On Patrick's most recent visit we went to Paris for 4 days which was amazing. The weather was wonderful and we did and saw so many fabulous things from climbing the Eiffel Tower to a trip to Disneyland (a special treat for me!!) to delicious meals at lovely restaurants. We of course hit all the usual tourist spots and had our pictures taken all over the city but what I was most surprised about was how well I was able to eat as a vegan in Paris. Everyone knows the French love their cheese and butter so I assumed eating out would be rather difficult but it turns out with a little planning Paris is full of vegan opportunities! 

The two best places we went (IMO!) were Hanks Burgers and La Bocca della Verita. The first place, as the name suggests, is a burger place, but all the burgers were vegan! It was amazing! I had just trouble trying to decide what to have but I had some of mine and a bite of Patrick's and they were both delicious so I don't think you could make a wrong choice. They also had desserts which are  so hard to come by in non vegan establishments if you want anything other than sorbet so of course I couldn't say no! I chose the carrot cake and it was the best I've ever had. If I'd eaten it before we left instead of saving it for later I absolutely would have had to buy another one.

The second place was a tiny little Italian restaurant Patrick had found online (Italian is his favourite) and I'd OK'd the menu in advance. The funny thing was he'd actually forgotten to check if the menu was okay for him but luckily he found something he liked. I chose what could be considered a 'basic' option of pasta with tomato and basil sauce but it was incredible. Sometimes the simplest things done impeccably are the most satisfying things to eat and this was just superb! We had lovely wine in a beautiful setting outside and a very friendly and helpful waiter which just made our entire dinner feel wonderfully special. If we ever go back to Paris, that restaurant will definitely be on the list of places we return to!

You know what, even Disneyland wasn't that bad for eating at and I'd resigned myself to a day of limp salad and fries as my main food sources! The salads were actually plentiful and not at all limp and that wasn't even my only option. I was pleasantly surprised and I no longer have to be apprehensive about the food in one of my favourite places in the world letting me down ;)

Reading Half Marathon & a new PR!

I am absolutely buzzing right now!! As the title of this post suggests I ran Reading half marathon today. It's only the second time I've run a half and the first time I've done Reading. The first one I did was in Cardiff and while I started off training really well, I went on holiday for three weeks about four weeks before the race and well, I didn't quite manage to keep up with my training! This time I've been training really hard and it totally paid off because I knocked 18minutes off my time for a new PR of 2hours 4minutes and 3seconds!!! So proud!!

It was a gorgeous day, in fact almost too hot at points - the last 1.5 miles on a long straight road with the sun beating down were tough to say the least! The course was flat for the most part, two hideous hills but the crowds were amazing and finishing in the stadium was an atmosphere I will never forget. Even gave me enough of a boost to sprint the last 100m! 

Massive thanks have to go out to my wonderful boyfriend Patrick for his constant support through my months of training and waking up super early this morning to wish me luck! He's always encouraging and motivating even when I'm having the worst days and I really couldn't have done this without him! Also a huge thanks to my parents for ferrying me around today and bringing my post run fuel - my mum even made me some delicious granola bars! And finally, but by no means least, I want to thank Jaki my running training buddy and Alecia for starting me off on a brilliant pace to lead me through to my fab time!

Would definitely recommend this race to anyone thinking of running a half marathon. It's a brilliant atmosphere, incredible crowds and a great course! Not to mention a stadium finish that gives you such a high!!

Plan A

I've called this plan A but in the scheme of things it's probably actually about plan C... But as it's the best one we've had by far I'm going to go ahead and call it plan A! As I've mentioned a couple of places on here I am looking to move to America in the very near future, primarily to be with this amazing man below.

Don't you just love his smile?? Anyway, we met about 18months ago now and have been dating for the last 9.5. He's currently doing his PhD at Yale (I know, brains and looks - I'm such a lucky girl!) and we want nothing more than to be in the same town. Although sometimes I think I would settle to be in the same state! So I'm looking to move there. Sounds straightforward right?! Yeah not so much...

Unfortunately the U.S. government isn't too keen on letting people into the country unless they have a really good reason. Sadly being in love with an American citizen doesn't count unless you prove it and get married and, while that is hopefully on the cards for the future, that's not something we want to rush into while we have other options to consider!

I looked into being a teacher (really not for me!) and working (unless you're highly skilled or very wealthy, business is a very tricky option) before deciding to try and study and get a student visa. I really want to do an MBA to further myself in my career through studying, so this seemed the perfect opportunity to do everything I wanted! You also have the opportunity to work part time on a student visa if your university allows you so hopefully I will be able to earn some money and experience alongside my learning.

My application has been processed and, literally about 5minutes ago as I was writing this, has been provisionally accepted based on my grades!! I'M SO EXCITED! There are still hoops to jump through as an international student but hopefully I will pass with flying colours and be able to confirm my place in the very near future.

Patrick and his flatmate, my future roomies, found and signed for their lovely new apartment yesterday too so that's another piece of the puzzle complete! There are an awful lot of steps to go through between now and moving and a lot that have been gone through already to get to this point! But after months of waiting for other people to make decisions, things are finally starting to look like they are moving forward - I'll keep you posted!

Green for GLOW

I don't know what it is about waking up to a bright sunny morning but I am absolutely bouncing out of bed these days, full of energy and ready to take on the day! After the months of winter and darkness, feeling like it's still the middle of the night when my alarm goes off and not even getting a shred of daylight by the time I finish work either, it's definitely a welcome change.

Maybe it's the vitamin D factor or maybe it just feels like an appropriate time to actually be getting out of bed (the sun is up and therefore I should be too!) but here I am at 9.30 on a Saturday morning after already having done some yoga in the sunshine and now enjoying a deliciously green smoothie while I type this. It's like heaven!

Smoothies are my favourite way to start the day when it's sunny - and most days even when it's not. I jam pack them full of plant goodness to power me through my morning with as many added benefits for my body as I can. This morning it's my favourite green smoothie right now, full of healthy fats, vitamins and tastes delicious! My skin is something that I've long struggled with so I try and include ingredients that will help it as much as possible.

Avocado makes this smoothie beautifully creamy and is packed full of healthy fats to help keep your skin hydrated and soft and helps regenerate skin cells and reduce redness (hallelujah!). It's also full of vitamins C and E which are both amazing skin antioxidants and help maintain skins firmness and youthfulness.  Spinach is what makes the gorgeous green colour and is one of the most nutrient dense foods out there. It's FULL of vitamins such as A which improve skin tone, B to give protection from the sun, C and E as above and K to improve your complexion by minimising blemishes and dark circles.

Mango is not only delicious and full of vitamins such a A and C as above, it contains many other antioxidants which also improve complexion, rejuvenate your skin, and delay the onset of skin ageing! In addition to being an excellent energy source, banana is loaded with vitamin including B6 which is vital for maintaining skin elasticity. And lastly, but by no means least, nectarine contain vitamins A, C, and K plus beta carotene which also helps keep skin firm and glowing. 

This is by no means an exhaustive list of the benefits of the above foods but it's a pretty impressive résumé for a smoothie don't you think? A wonderfully nourishing way to start the day and fuel you through your morning with glowing, gorgeous skin.

Have a beautiful day everyone!

What's in a name...?

One of the hardest things about starting a blog isn't deciding what you want to talk about or why you want to do it, it's picking a name. It was easy for me to say I didn't want to pigeon hole myself into just talking about say, food or recipes or running or my planned immigration. I knew I wanted to create a place where I could share everything and anything I wanted to but without a specific theme, the opportunities for names seem endless. Trying to find one with traction, that means something to the person writing it is the biggest hurdle.

But here I am so that means I made it! I have to say it took a lot of brainstorming before something I'd been told recently popped into my head and it just clicked. I can't remember the original source or study this came from but its an idea that, as someone who follows a whole food, plant based lifestyle, I absolutely love. Photons are particles of light and are all around us. As plants grow they absorb these photons and embed them into their cells. So when we eat plants as part of our diet we are in fact also eating these light particles and are quite literally glowing from the inside out.

Now I don't know about you but the image of that to me is so beautiful. To be so connected with nature and full of that energy and light is something I strive to achieve on a daily basis and just felt like a perfect reflection of my lifestyle! So here I am, full of photons, ready to begin my next adventure...